Indonesia does not want to join patrols with Malaysia and Singapore of the pirate-infested Malacca Straits, and would prefer that the current system of cooperation is maintained, it was reported today.

Indonesia's Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono said joint patrols would remove each country's sovereign rights, allowing forces from the other nations to enter their territory as they wished, the state Antara news agency reported.

His comments came after Singapore Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean told reporters at the weekend that the improving atmosphere for co-operation between the Asian nations could open the door for joint patrols of the busy strait.

"The existing cooperation is seen as the best format ever made by the three littoral countries to secure the Malacca Straits," Juwono said.

"We (Indonesia) do not want the format of the existing joint coordinated cooperation to lead to the removal of a certain littoral country's security right which will then be replaced by another country," Juwono said.

Under the existing joint coordinated security cooperation, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore each patrol their own territory in the Malacca Straits.

Offers from US, Japan

Juwono said however that if this system were replaced by a joint patrol, one of the three countries presently involved should be appointed as commander to safeguard the 500 kilometre-long waterway, he said.

Other nations should not be able to contribute security forces to any joint patrols, he said.

"If certain advanced countries want to assist, it is advisable that it be in the form of capacity building, not military forces or warship deployment," he said.

Japan and the United States have already offered assistance in maintaining security in the strait where pirates and smugglers are active.

The Malacca Straits is one of the world's most important stretches of water, with 50,000 ships carrying about one-third of the globe's trade passing through it each year.